Oregon may soon become the latest state to pass right-to-repair legislation. Last month, Google lent its support in an open letter, calling Senate Bill 1596 “a compelling model for other states to follow.” The bill, sponsored by a sextet of state senators and representatives, was inspired in part by California SB 244, which Governor Gavin…
When I was a student in the UK, I remember that renting appliances like washing machines and televisions was the norm for some people, especially students living in short-term accommodation. Israeli startup Xyte (pronounced “excite”) has just raised $30 million, as it sees a return to this sort of hardware-as-a-service model to be the way…
Pinterest announced a new ad deal with Google as the company aims to ramp up its ad revenue. Google is the social platform’s second third-party ad partner after Amazon signed a multiyear deal with Pinterest last year. The company talked about the Google partnership during the earnings call for Q4 2023, where it posted results…
Could 2024 be the year for fintech IPOs? Quite possibly, according to F-Prime Capital’s State of Fintech 2024 report. F-Prime — a VC firm with over $4.5 billion in assets under management that tracks the performance of emerging, publicly traded and privately held financial technology companies — naturally remains bullish on the fintech space, noting that:…
Getaround, a company that helps vehicle owners rent out their cars, trucks and SUVs to other peers, is cutting 30% of its North American workforce as part of a restructuring. The company said in a statement it will restructure its workforce and operations to reduce costs in hopes of extending its cash runway and accelerating…
Podcast creators can now submit their RSS feed to YouTube and YouTube Music, the company revealed in a video uploaded to its Creator Insider channel. It was previously announced in August that support was coming for RSS feeds. The functionality was available as an invite-only beta test last year. The move to embrace RSS feeds…
A fledgling startup founded by one of OpenAI’s first engineering hires is looking to “redefine manufacturing,” with AI-powered factories for creating bespoke precision parts. Daedalus, as the company is called, is based in the southwestern German city of Karlsruhe, where its solo factory is currently housed. Here, Daedalus takes orders from industries such as medical…
Attentive.ai, a startup building vertical software for landscaping and construction services in the U.S., has raised $7 million in a new funding round as it looks to enhance its AI-led offerings and expand them to more businesses. Led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, the all-equity Series A round, which follows the earlier $5…
Interlune, a stealth startup headed by ex-Blue Origin executives, is focused on mining the moon for a rare isotope of helium that could be used to scale quantum computing and eventually even fusion power, TechCrunch has learned. Regulatory filings reported here last week showed that the company recently closed $15.5 million in new capital; before…
The world’s electricity infrastructure is awash in transformers, the bits of equipment that change voltage as electricity courses through the grid. They’re present at nearly every point, from power plants to phone chargers. For the most part, they’ve been unchanged since they were first developed in the late 1800s. That longevity is a testament to…
